List of English words of Brittonic origin
Few English words are definitively known to come directly from Brittonic, the language of the Celtic inhabitants of Britain prior to the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain. [List of English language|English words of Celtic origin|Words of Celtic origin] have entered the English language by a number of different pathways, and some have been attributed to Brittonic as well as its descendants or other Celtic languages. This list omits words of Celtic origin from these other pathways:
- Continental Celtic words adopted by Proto-Germanic speakers in continental Europe, prior to Anglo-Saxon settlement.
- Words of Gaulish origin, which outnumber those of Brittonic origin. These words arrived through Norman French, which became the prestige language of England following the Norman conquest, and was often strengthened in form and use by Church/state Latin.
- Words of Welsh origin, both descended from Brittonic . Words in bold have also been attributed directly to Brittonic.
- Words of Scottish Gaelic origin
- Words of Irish origin
- Breton has chiefly been the source of local terms in archaeology
List
Academia recognises beyond all reasonable doubt "fewer than ten" Brittonic loan-words in English that are neither historic nor obsolete. The following list derives mainly from surveys of possible Brittonic loanwords in English by Richard Coates, Dieter Kastovsky, and D. Gary Miller. Etymologies from the Oxford English Dictionary are included to indicate the view of this authoritative source, distinguishing between the first, second, third and online editions. Words that are the most widely accepted as Brittonic loans are in bold.| Word | Possible Brittonic etymology | OED etymology | Type |
| ass | Old British *assin or Old Irish *assan, but more likely from Irish. | Celtic | historic |
| bannock | Etymologised by the OED as from Gaelic bannach, ? < Latin pānicium < pānis bread. But possibly Old Brittonic *bannoc. | Gaelic | historic |
| basket | On one theory, it is from Latin bascauda "kettle, table-vessel," said by the Roman poet Martial to be from Celtic British and perhaps cognate with Latin fascis "bundle, faggot," in which case it probably originally meant "wicker basket." But OED frowns on this, and there is no evidence of such a word in Celtic unless later words in Irish and Welsh, sometimes counted as borrowings from English, are original. | Unknown | common |
| beck | Agricultural implement with two hooks. Etymologised in the OED as from a 'Celtic root bacc- | French | technical |
| bin | Often considered to be from Old Brittonic *benna, but possibly a borrowing from Gallo-Roman. | Probably Celtic | common |
| brat | Possibly from a Brittonic root meaning "cloak, cloth", cognate with Old Irish bratt. However, the OED and recent scholars see the English word as coming from Irish. In Old English, bratt meant "cloak", but later came to mean "ragged garment", then "beggar's garment", and then "beggar's child", whence it attained its current meaning of "unruly child". "Brat" is still used in parts of Northern England to refer to a rough working apron. | Irish bratt | common, pejorative |
| brock | From Brittonic *brocco-s, meaning "badger". | Celtic | technical |
| carr | From carreg such as in Welsh, meaning 'rock'. | Old Northumbrian | technical, local |
| coomb | From Old Brittonic *kumba, meaning "valley". Frequently used as a place-name element in southwestern England. | Probably Brittonic | local |
| crag | According to the OED 'apparently of Celtic origin: compare Irish and Gaelic creag, Manx creg, cregg, Welsh craig rock. None of these, however, exactly gives the English crag, cragg | Celtic | common |
| doe | Possibly from a Brittonic root *da-, but could also be from Latin. | Latin dāma | technical |
| dun | According to the OED, 'perhaps < Celtic: compare Irish and Gaelic donn brown, Welsh dwn | Celtic | common |
| gavelock | A kind of spear. Cf. 'Old Norse gaflak, gaflok neuter javelin, Welsh gaflach, Irish gabhla lance, Old Northern French gavelot, gaverlot, gavrelot, garlot javelin, whence Middle Dutch gavelot, gaverloot, Middle High German gabilôt | Celtic | technical |
| gull | Probably from Brythonic Celtic; compare Welsh gwylan "gull," Cornish guilan, Breton goelann; all from Old Celtic *voilenno-. Replaced Old English mæw. | Welsh or Cornish | common |
| hog | Possibly from Brittonic *hukk. Given by the OED as a Celtic loan, related to Cornish "hoch"; Welsh "hwch," a pig or a sow, its connotation being a large instance. | Celtic | common |
| peat | Probably from a Celtic root *pett-. | Unknown | common |
| sark | Derived by Andrew Breeze from the Brittonic ancestor of Welsh seirch 'armour, trappings'. | Germanic *sarki-z | historic |
| tor | 'Generally held to be Celtic', per the OED, which cites Old Welsh twrr ‘heap, pile’ and Gaelic tòrr ‘hill of an abrupt or conical form, lofty hill, eminence, mound, grave, heap of ruins’.; possibly via Latin turris such as Glastonbury Tor. Especially used in Devon. | Celtic | technical, local |
| wan | Possibly from Brittonic *wanno- and related to Welsh gwan, which has a similar meaning to the English word. | Unclear | common |
| yan, tan, tethera etc. | And variants. Most common in northern England, and ultimately from Brittonic *oinā, *deŭai, *tisrīs, etc., though heavily corrupted over time. | Unclear | local, historic |
In extinct uses, seven main others are proposed, mainly by Andrew Breeze, seen in Old English. Though less controversial than others, some of the seven have been disputed:
; funta: 'fountain, spring.' Latin fontana and Church Latin font loaned into Brittonic and borrowed from either/both into Old English. Used in nine sets of settlements across counties west of London and east of Gillingham, Dorset: Chalfont. Phrase the 'fount of all wisdom/knowledge' is cognate, seen to endure as a shorthand, poetic form of fountain.
; luh: 'pool', in use in the Northumbrian dialect of Old English. The modern English cognate, 'loch', is taken from Scottish Gaelic.
; milpæþ: 'army road', the first element of which is possibly from the Brittonic ancestor of Welsh mil 'thousand, army'.
; prass: 'pomp, array', perhaps from the Brittonic ancestor of Welsh pres 'soldiers in array'.
; stor: 'incense, wax'. However, the Oxford English Dictionary regards it as a Latin loan.
; toroc: 'bung.' Highly disputed. Possibly not even an English word–or an English word but not of Celtic origin.
; wassenas: 'retainers', possibly from Brittonic.